Extra 21 wins awards from Essex County Fire & Rescue Service

Last Friday the charity was asked to the ECFRS headquarters to attend The Children and Young People Awards which was being held for the first time.

Over the evening there were 21 categories with awards for a variety of achievements and in recognition of the hard work achieved and a celebration of the achievements in their youth work over the decade.

We were lucky enough to see one of our own members Harriet Smith receive the ECFRS Children and Young People Champion award. The award was presented to Harriet for inspiring and motivating others to achieve their potential. She has acted as a fantastic ambassador for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and all it represents. Along the way she has touched the hearts of everyone she has met.

She started in Firebreak, progressed to the Young Firefighter course and has also completed her Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. In 2013 she won the inspirational Role Model award from Basildon Council. Her bubbly personality has assisted her in delivering home fire safety messages to her local community acting as a point of contact for the fire safety advice. She also gives up her own time to assist the CYP Manager in delivering Firebreak courses and is now recognised absolutely as one of the team.

We were also very proud to receive another award on behalf of the charity for Partner of the Decade Award.

The award was presented to us for showing trust and continued support over the past 10 years. Six years ago, we were approached by ECFRS with a request to form a partnership that would enrich the lives of our members. Since then we have continued to fund a firebreak course each year and are thought of as excellent advocates of ECFRS. Thanks to this partnership a  considerable number of our members have learnt the skills needed to have safe and independent lives.

We were also pleased to be present to see ECFRS presented with the Down Syndrome International award  for their tireless work to enrich the lives of our members through the Firebreak course. This was presented to Donna Finch Young People Manager, and Deputy Chief Fire Officer Adam Eckley,  the award was presented to them by Alison Morgan from the Down Syndrome Association.